Doers Are Dreamers
Mt. 1:24

Please ponder three words: Wish, Wake, and Work. These are all reflected in the life of Joseph, stepfather of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we know about Joseph’s life is associated with his dreams:

His taking Mary as his wife, Mt.1:24
His taking Mary and the Child to Egypt, Mt.2:13
His bringing them back from Egypt, Mt.2:14
His settling in Nazareth, Mt .2:22

The key to his life is surely found in Mt. 1:24, "Joseph woke up and did what the angel had told him." (Phillip’s Paraphrase)

Edersheim quotes an ancient saying: "If anyone sleeps seven days without dreaming, call him wicked." The ancients considered dreams very seriously. During the so-called Enlightenment, however, they were dismissed as irrational, perhaps the consequence of poor digestion. Then Freud came along and this changed. He considered dreams to be a vital diagnostic tool for exploring the psyche. He regarded wish-fulfillment as the key to interpreting dreams. Other pioneers who followed him, such as Jung, expanded the meaning of dreams far beyond this base. Surely Joseph must have wished that what he had heard about his loved one was not true. He could not believe the rumors and did not know what course to take. This is the very human background for a super-human story. Joseph wishes that some good can come out of this crisis. He is a man of faith. He is a dreamer.

Doers are dreamers. Not all dreamers are doers, but, all doers are dreamers. We distinguish doers here from drudges. Drudges do only what is required and what they do is done in the conventional way without imagination or spontaneity or innovation. Drudges are sure to do whatever they do according to the same old routine. The same old routine can kill your church.

Our first word is WISH! What are your wishes for the church? Do you find yourself saying, "I wish they..." If you are not part of the dream, you might as well forget it. You, yourself, be the change you wish to see in your church. Don’t leave your dreams with the professionals. Dave Barry observed, "Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic." Whether it is a night dream or a day dream, to be productive it must be personal. The wish, the dream must tell you to be involved in its flilfuflment. How we need that kind of wishing in the church! How about the poor guy who found himself lost in thought and confessed it was unfamiliar territory!

Gutzon Borglum saw more than the cliffs of South Dakota’s Black Hills. He dreamed of seeing the faces of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt there. Doers are dreamers.

Dreamers are idealists. But, doers are more than idealists, they wake up! They are also realists. Here faith is distinguished from fantasy. Joseph woke up. The real world to which he awakened included King Herod. This tyrant was so zealous to keep his throne that he had his own sons murdered out of fear that they would seize it from him. Caesar was quoted as saying it would be safer to be a slave in Herod’s household than a son. The Caesar did not care about human rights in Judea as long as Herod was loyal to Rome. Sounds like a very modern approach to nationalism, does it not?

Suppose that at my age I should dream of becoming a professional baseball star destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. You have the right to laugh at that. I was no athlete as a kid. It is hardly realistic to imagine myself becoming one as an old man. Such wishing is unrealistic. Dreamers need to wake up.

No word Joseph ever spoke is recorded. The Talmud commands: "Say little, do much." This suggests a way to spot an idealist who is also a realist. Such a person takes the first step toward fulfilling his dream. He is a walker not just a talker. As President Kennedy reminded us, "The longest journey begins with the first step."

A realist is also aware of the danger facing those who act on their dreams. Someone has declared that many people have too much bone in the head- not enough in the back. Do you have a dream for this church? I dare you! Wake up and begin to implement it.

Wish - be an idealist; Wake - be a realist; Work - be an activist. James 2:14-18. This is the opposite of navel-gazing. Perhaps we have been too much concerned with our inner states. A strong dose of James’ practical medicine is needed.

A few days I had a conversation with a fellow who was church shopping. He said that he needed to be fed. Curiously, however, the criticism he had against the church he was leaving had to do primarily with its music. How often we hear of people’s attitude toward church as that of getting rather than giving. Going to church is like going to the supermarket. If there is any wishing it consists of what others can do for me.

A large sedan with an out of state license plate drove up in front of the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. A man stepped out of the car, camera in hand, and asked the fellow who was mowing the lawn to step aside just a moment so that he could take a picture of the church. Without saying a word, the workman smiled and pushed the mower out of the way. A little later the man was in one of the gift shops in Plains bragging about the great picture he got of the church. The store owner asked if there was a man mowing the lawn there. The visitor said that yes there was but that he was kind enough to get out of the way for the picture. "What a shame," the store owner exclaimed, "your picture would have been a real prize with the man and the lawnmower in it. You see, that was President Carter mowing the grass."

Wish, Wake, Work. Remember, "I wish they..." is galaxies away from "Perhaps I can..." Let me suggest, moreover, that in our dreaming and wishing we do well to keep in mind the impact of what we do outside the building. Is outreach dominant in our wishing? Evangelism is the biblical word for outreach.

I have applied this to myself. Feeling that door-to-door visitation was needed around the church in Auburn I have devoted Thursdays for this work. Results? Nothing dramatic. God however is responsible for the viability of seed. Last Sunday, waiting for church to begin, I watched the heavy traffic on # 302 in Raymond. I could not flag them down and force them into church. I could not save them. Only God can save. But, I can serve. I can serve those around me. The church can do the same, indeed, is called to do just that. The future of this church consists in finding needs outside this building and meeting them in the Name of Christ. Do you dare to dream about this? Do you dare to wake up and implement your wish where the rubber hits the road?

Before we conclude, let me ask you, "How do you feel about this topic, ‘Doers Are Dreamers’?" Do you feel nothing? Just another sermon. The old man is supposed to talk and we’re supposed to listen. So what else is new? Or, do you feel guilty? It has been observed that conscience is a small voice deep down inside where the acoustics are generally poor. Guilt does not necessarily motivate. My prayer for myself and you all may move beyond guilt and be challenged by this theme. As for me, I desire to be a divinely driven dreamer-doer.

"Joseph woke and did what the angel had told him." Mt. 1:24.

Let me remind you of our three words. Wish - God wants us to be idealists. Wake - God wants us to be realists. Work - God wants us to be activists. Amen.

Charles Bray, June 23, 2002